#164 Bale of Turtles basking in the sun

We are the Turtle Group here at 3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration, we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
Judy
Itryharder
(for Lin and Lauren)

Good morning Turtles,
I've started this new thread. Let me start by responding to Chris on #163.
She counted points well and lost a pound this week. Yay! :

Chris also asked about the main idea of Core. Here's my experience:
you do not count points or measure food
you eat until satisfied, not stuffed
you eat primarily lean protein, high fiber carbs, whole grain carbs. veggies & fruit.
you eat in a healthy lifestyle using low or no fat foods
many of the food choices are unprocessed foods
your food selections come from an extensive list of approved foods
if you want foods not on that list, you can have them. you just deduct their points from the 35 weekly allowance points you get.

I hope that helps. Biggest disadvantage: possibility of overeating approved foods. Biggest advantage: being able to eat a slightly larger portion of food because you aren't using points on non=nutritious foods. Biggest advantage to me is that after eating whole grain foods and lean protein, my craving for sugar calmed down and I wasn't always hunting for food that would "satisfy" me. My "hunger" is often emotional and I am now and probably will always be dealing with that. The trick is to find substitutes for food when I have food callings.

Anyway, I'm trying hypnosis via CD. I've been through two sessions, and I've really enjoyed them. Very relaxing. Nothing strange or spooky about them, thankfully. She just makes you very relaxed (which is nice in itself) and then makes suggestions. So far, I've already seen changes. I'm not eating between meals, which is remarkable! I'm reaching for water instead and really enjoying it. And DH had hash browns today when we went out to eat, and I wasn't even tempted to try a forkful. (One of her suggestions is that I would be uninterested in anything fried.)

I'm finding myself a bit more excited about doing this than I've been in a long time, which is good because I really, really need to do it.

And that's where I am these days! So good to hear how you all are doing, too. Judy, I'm going to alternate Core weeks once in a while with the usual WW weeks, I think. I just need to get the portion size thing under control.

Had a fairly nice weekend... I got to spend a lot of time outside and on nice days that is were I want to be. Not stuck inside and doing nothing, I have all winter to do that. DH and I went for an 8 mile bike ride on Saturday and I really enjoyed that, it felt so good! They my son and I went for an ride later that afternoon and I had a great time then also. Sunday was ok, we went to play some miniture golf and that is always a good time.

W/I went well, down 2.2 so I was just about walking on air when I left WW after the meeting. DH did well also but he is heading off in another direction and basically doing his body building thing which I am not so interested in... I just really want to get to a good weight and tone up my body... I will figure the rest out after I have lost all the weight. One step at a time .

I am in a hurry this morning so I will have to stop back for catch up later on.

Looks like it is going to be a pretty day here today and that is always a good thing... means I can get a walk in tonight...

Busy week... my youngest goes back to school on the 15th which is next week already... gets earlier every year... but this is his senior year so that is a great thing... but it means lots to do to get him registered and ready for next Tuesday. My mom is coming in this weekend for a visit... that will be nice, some girls shopping trips and stuff like that.

Hi all! Haven't posted here in a good couple of days...I've been in a sad state of mind since Saturday. I found out my cousin was shot and killed by someone that he had gotten into an argument with. He is only 25 (one yr younger than me) so I grew up with him...just a huge shocker. I haven't even cared about tracking (or WW in general, for that matter) but today I'm getting back on the wagon. I actually decided to start following the Wendie WW plan (posted under general.) My problem is always that I follow the plan to a "T" and lose a big amount of weight the first week, maybe a little the next, and then nothing. So I'm going to try this and see what happens.

Chrily: Exercise is often easiest when it becomes a habit. Don't beat yourself up about exercise -- take it one day at a time, then one week at a time. Pick a target number of times to exercise THIS week, then pick when you will exercise, based on your schedule this week. In other words, plan ahead. For example, my goal is 4x per week, and I know I have plans Friday and Saturday night, so I will work out Monday (already done), Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, right after work. Don't expect it to happen on its own, because it probably won't, anymore than you start eating healthily without planning and effort on your part. The hardest part about getting into the habit of woring out is the part about making it a habit. At first, I really disliked exercise, but I did it because I knew it would help me lose weight. Now that it's an ingrained habit, I turn to it because it reduces stress and makes me feel better, and helps me lose weight, but MOST OF ALL, I do it because it's a habit. I don't even think about it -- after work, I just get in the car and drive to the gym. If I even waffle on going, I tell myself that I will just do half of the workout -- once I get there and get started, I usually find the energy to do the rest.

Lauren -- an interesting tactic. Keep us posted.

Princess -- congrats on the weight loss! The bike ride sounds like fun. I used to ride all the time in college -- my calves were the most fit part of my body then.

Paige -- I'm so sorry to hear about your cousin. That is terrible. Don't beat yourself up about forgetting points during a tragic time like this. As long as it doesn't change your long term habits, it's fine.

On a happier topic, you might like the Wendie plan. I've been doing it myself for the last couple of months, and I've lost 20 pounds in the last 8 months. Not fast, but then I am not the world's strictest adherent. I tend to slip when I go home to visit my family (1x per month) and when I go out to eat (getting better about that.) When I adhere to it, I lose weight, usually; the exceptions were when I ate more than I realized when I was eating out, and when I needed to mix up my workout because my body had gotten used to the workout.

As for myself, I am a bit cranky these last few days, because I am so hungry. When I am headed for a significant weight loss (more than 1.5 pounds), I get really hungry. That's just me. It's uncomfortable, but I know what it means, and I know that I'm getting enough to eat. I compensate by "cheating" with a 1-serving package of healthy pop (about 1 point) or an extra piece of fruit (1 point of course) when I'm ravenous. Work is a little better. Pretty stressful, but not terribly. I am really proud of myself, because, after a long time working on rechanneling my reactions to stress, I don't crave junk food much -- I crave working out and a day spent quilting, my replacements for eating junk and shopping. You guys have heard me rhapsodize about them many times. I find it helps to remind myself of the pleasure I get from those things, especially when it's a replacement for the pleasure I get from food and shopping.

Anyway, back to work. Lunch is over. Take care ladies, and good luck! I'll let you know if my super-hungry feelings indicate weight loss on Wednesday night or Thursday.

__________________ Goal for w/e Nov 30 -- Survive this work push, keep eating the healthy pre-prepared food. Bring a scale, a tiny (desert) fork and spoon to Thanksgiving to make it last longer and weigh my portions before I eat. Plan on weighed seconds so I don't feel deprived.
Original Before WW: 206. Lifetime Max Goal: 140. Personal Goal: 130.

Ariana: I think I am the same way about the super hungry feeling and weight lose also but I could be wrong... I was starving last week and I lost 2.2... but then again I am hungry most of the time... I guess I just love to eat

Paige: So sorry to hear about your cousin... it must be a very rough thing for a family to go thru and I pray that some peace and healing comes your way quickly.

Lauren: how is the hypnosis thing coming along?

Judy: how have you been lately?

DH and I went for a walk last evening which was really great since he was sore from his weight lifting but we managed to get 2 miles in.

Has anyone tried the new South Beach wraps yet? They are in the fridge section of the grocery story and you can also find them at Sam's, Super Walmart and I also found them at the Super Target here in Indy... talk about a really great quick lunch! They are about 5 pts a package and they even come with a small SF FF jello... they have about 5 different varities and if you have a salad along with them for lunch you are full and they really taste great. Just a little info sharing there . Not sure if they would be good for Core but they are for Flex so give them a try if you can find them.

I wrote a super long post and I got this invalid thread message and *boom* it was gone.

I'm not going to try to retype it all. I will just say that I read through everyone's posts. Ariana...I have made an exercise chart for keeping track of my work. If I can stick with it...I'll have to reward myself with something. It never works that way for me. It would probably hold more incentive if my husband offered me a reward for it. It would MEAN something to me then.

Judy-I will pass the info about CORE on to my friend. I know she did sign up for the online WW website. She might already have the info she needs but will give it to her anyhow.

Susan-I love the SB wraps. Have you ever tried any of their frozen dinners. They have one with meat, pecan halves, and string beans. That is sooo good. I only buy the SB stuff when its on sale though. KInd of expensive around here.

Well gonnt go. My friend is coming to take Nicole and Kayla to her house to play with her kids for a while. I'm going to see if I can run some errands while they are there.

Does anyone else get super hungry a few days before TOM? Mine isn't even a hunger in my head...my stomach actually growls. So then I eat everything in sight.

And...if you do- What do you do to kind of fool yourself and not eat all the garbage food. I know that if I'm hungry, I'm hungry...but around this time, it seems healthy food is the last thing I crave. I want the chocolate, the sugar, the chips.

Chris:
I have the same problem... I have a couple options that I use but two of them that come to mind are:
First, I drink a cup of "diet" hot chocolate... I think that swiss miss (?sp) is the one that I have at home that is only 25 calories and no fat or sugar so it is barely 1 point... I only use about 2/3 of the water that the directions call for and then add the final 1/3 of fluid as skim milk... it really helps with the chocolate cravings and is only a point at the most.
Second, if I am at work and I get those cravings I have a cup of tea with a couple packs of splenda and a dash or two of skim milk and that helps to get me thru the craving also.
Oh and there are also some cereals that are not too bad in points and they are good for a junk/sweet craving.... like cocoa puffs if I remember correctly is only 2 points for a serving.

Hi everyone - been MIA for awhile. Been really busy up here & been away for 4 days for a mini-holiday. Went to Port Dover for art gallery opening then headed to Windsor for balance. This is about a 5 hr drive but lots of fun.
Has casino in hotel but didn't win any money & ate way too many unfriendly things. On a positive note, I was down 1# last week, but am sure I gained that back plus some over the past few days.

Everyone sounds like they are really trying hard to OP - so congrats to all of you.

Paige - so sorry for your loss. Truly awful thing to happen.

Anyway, have to cut this short but just wanted to check in & say Hi to everyone and keep up the good work.

Paige, What an awful thing to happen to your cousin. I feel so sorry for him and his family and for you. God Bless. You know we are all sending you good vibes and comfort.

Everyone: I am so pleased with all the effort going on here.

Princess, thanks for asking about me. I am just back from two days at Sesame Place with my darling grandson, his mom and dad and his aunt, and my dh. We had a ball! Seeing him get so excited about Elmo and enjoying himself in the swimming areas for little guys was incredibly fun. Food was pretty good considering the availability. I did remember to bring fruit and Diet Coke for motel "munchies" and I didn't overeat at all. Haven't stepped on the scale yet. Really busy getting everything ready for my other dear grandchildren and crew for a long weekend here. We're celebrating a birthday and having a BBQ and all other sorts of things. Since I'm in charge of the food, I have to remember to do the right thing and make good choices available. My dear daughters are also on WW's right now and I saw them order salads when they wanted pizza, etc. and they are inspiring.

Everyone, take care, be well and happy and enjoy this part of summer.
Love,
Judy